Tapas Nine 'talk tactics': Portuguese police are furious over friends' summit

The "Tapas Nine" who were dining together when Madeleine McCann disappeared have met for the first time since that night.

Kate and Gerry McCann held a secret meeting with their holiday friends to "talk tactics" as Portuguese police prepared to fly to Britain for a new interrogation of the group, it has emerged. In addition, they have been in constant e-mail and telephone contact since Madeleine vanished seven months ago.

The meeting was at a hotel near the couple's home in Rothley, Leicestershire, last month. It was said to be a chance to "show solidarity" as the nine faced the prospect of being re-interviewed about the four-year-old's disappearance from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3.

But the meeting infuriated Portuguese detectives who are convinced there are inconsistencies in their accounts of what happened. A source close to the Portuguese inquiry said the secret summit was viewed with deep suspicion by detectives investigating the disappearance.

He said: "The McCanns left Portugal the moment they were made suspects and refused to answer many key questions. Now they and their friends are about to be re-interviewed and it is revealed they have met up in secret in a hotel." (Daily Mail)